[Athos]

Hell is an example of “revenge religion” supported by those fundamentalist Christians who resent their lower socio-economic position in life.


Originally it was a means to frighten people into embracing a nascent Christianity as it sought power in ancient Rome and elsewhere.

[Wondergirl]

How is this reconciled with references in the Bible, especially the NT, to hell?

[Athos]

How is this reconciled with references in the Bible, especially the NT, to hell?

There actually are no Biblical references to hell as the word is understood today. The four words in the Bible that are translated as hell are Tartarus, Sheol, Hades, and Gehenna.

Tartarus was both a Greek deity and a place where the gods were punished.
Sheol from Hebrew meaning abode of the dead.
Hades – Greek translation of Sheol, and a Greek word for a mythological god.
Gehenna was a city dump outside Jerusalem.

None of these words referred to a place of eternal torment for sinners or unbelievers after death. By the 5^th century, hell as eternal torture was defined by Augustine. It was a belief considered so immoral, it led to the gentler idea of purgatory taken from Persian and Egyptian mythology where the sinners would be purged from their sins before eventually entering heaven.

Earlier, church fathers were a mixed bag about hell. Athenagoras taught an eternal torture chamber for sinners. Origen taught the opposite – that sinners would eventually be restored to God including Satan. Iraneus taught the sinners would be destroyed, no eternal punishment.

Tertullian believed in a fiery torment for eternity for those who persecuted Christians. This is a good example of “revenge religion” - a psychological solution to the problem of Christian persecution that evolved into an article of faith.

Eastern Christianity has no notion of an eternal punishment in hell. Rather, it sees hell as separation from God – a purely spiritual state.

Convert Gary Amirault writes:

“A loving Father knows how to bring correction to His children without consigning them to an endless torture chamber. Tyrants and a few demented earthly parents may do such things to their children. But for Christians to ascribe such activity to the Creator of all mankind is simply terribly misguided thinking.”

[Wondergirl]

Hell explained….. Pay attention this is a teachable moment.

The following is an actual question given on a University of Arizona chemistry midterm, and an actual answer turned in by a student:

The answer by one student was so 'profound' that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well:

Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed) or some variant.

One student, however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving, which is unlikely. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, let's look at the different religions that exist in the world today.

Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:

1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase until all Hell breaks loose.
2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.

So which is it?

If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman year that, 'It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you,' and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number two must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct........leaving only Heaven, thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting "Oh my God."

THIS STUDENT RECEIVED AN A+

[Athos]

Very funny.